VANOS Recall issue is serious

[chiplee]

Just for everyone's info, my wife's X5 just had this issue this Friday 23 May and the car was completely disabled by it within 10 miles of first presenting the issue.

I got the expected 1/2 engine fault indication with the notice that says you're in limp mode and may continue driving but you should schedule service. I scheduled service at that moment, and gently drove it directly to the dealer, and it died .9 miles away from the dealer.

After a 4 hour ordeal with BMW assist for the tow it finally made to the the dealer. The next morning they said it's the VANOS issue and it looks like a bolt went through the engine.

I think this is a major safety concern and BMW should be handling it much more aggressively. I was almost disabled on a two lane bridge with no place to pull over and there was no warning that it was about to quit, no change to the fault code, no "pull over and stop" notification. There is still no indication on the website that my car is subject to the recall, but it's an August '10 build 35i X5, so I can't imagine it's not effected.

The best part is my household goods were completely packed up on Thursday the 22nd, and we were supposed to leave for California today.

[bigj91]

Please Keep us updated on what happens now and about extended warranty if they offer you any?

Thanks mate!

[P1]

I got the official recall notice in the mail over the weekend. It's for both my wife's 135i and my X5. Lovely. Did say they don't have the parts yet though, so it will have to be scheduled when they get the parts in. Did anyone else get this? Both my cars are 2011s.

[Kaiser11]

Yes glad to hear you are safe
Received the letter yesterday stating the same no parts at this time. I have a 2011 X5 35I 2/11 build

[larryv]

Got mine today. Just waiting for the parts.

[P1]

Originally Posted by larryv

Got mine today. Just waiting for the parts.

Dealer told me BMW go ahead of themselves. The dealers don't have instructions yet, so my rep told me to wait until I receive a secondary letter.

[barcelona]

Chiplee, safe is good but sure sounds frightening. Hope all is well with the car and your move soon if not already.

This link may provide additional details on the recall:
http://x3.xbimmers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=970570
Appears that your X5 is included as per NHTSA, post # 20.

Thanks for sharing.

[chiplee]

Originally Posted by barcelona

Chiplee, safe is good but sure sounds frightening. Hope all is well with the car and your move soon if not already.

This link may provide additional details on the recall:
http://x3.xbimmers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=970570
Appears that your X5 is included as per NHTSA, post # 20.

Thanks for sharing.

Yeah things are going well with the move, thanks. We just drove from Texas to California and all I could think about was how many desolate 100+ degree places this could have happened to my wife and daughter.

Then there are all of the places it could have happened where they couldn't get off the highway. There are 20 mile stretches of road everywhere with the shoulder closed for construction. What is a person supposed to do if their vehicle just quits in 70mph traffic and blocks a lane, a center lane at that. This was abrupt and the vehicle gave no urgent warning. Just said you can continue to drive, but should "schedule" service. BS. You should go directly in for service and you should probably get a tow whether it still moves under its own power or not. At least that way it will go into neutral and not get dragged on to the car hauler by some clown like my car did. BMW is not handling this correctly. It should be a "park your vehicle as safely and quickly as possible" warning from the car, and absent that these letters should have come out way sooner with notification to cease driving immediately if it happens. BMW is telling people to drive cars that could put them in very dangerous situations.

[Bklynjoker]

And I just got my lucky letter today for my CPO 22k "11".
Lol get this sht- "please note that at the present time we do not yet have the sufficient parts to conduct this recall; however we will notify you as soon as parts become available". That is funny. SMFH

[chiplee]

Originally Posted by Bklynjoker

And I just got my lucky letter today for my CPO 22k "11".
Lol get this sht- "please note that at the present time we do not yet have the sufficient parts to conduct this recall; however we will notify you as soon as parts become available". That is funny. SMFH

This has turned into a complete nightmare for me. I flew back to Texas from California Monday the 23rd, went to the dealer to pick up the car the next morning, and it got a CEL as they pulled it around for me. Checked out a loaner, went back the next day after they fiddled with it... CEL 3 miles from the dealer. Took it back. Now they say BMW wants them to replace the cylinder head. Supposedly that will be done tomorrow, but even IF that fixes it I have to decide when I'm confident enough to drive the vehicle 1400 miles back to CA. We've been without the vehicle for over a month. I've missed work. My wife has missed work. We've had to rent cars periodically when we couldn't get by with one. We'll see what BMW decides to do for us, but we are not happy customers.

[TcheloBR]

Hi, I've been experiencing the same problem but my car (X5 3.5 2011) is in the store for almost 2 months. They tried to fix the first problem (bolts in the engine - replaced it) but when I got the car about 1 month ago, I had problems with the transmission (1st and 2nd gear). BMW told the dealership to change the transmission. I'm still waiting. My warranty just expired and I don't want to have a new extended one if BMW doesn't guarantee that my car is going to be fine. My wife had a bad experience as the car simply stopped in the middle of nowhere...very dangerous for her. Apparently, BMW took almost 2/3 months to send the letter after the press warned us about the recall. When I got the letter, I send the car to the dealership and they said everything was OK but 3 days later, my wife had the problem. I really want to know about my rights. It's seem that I bought an expensive car, based on its reliability and now I have a "lemon" as I don't know if they are going to fix. Any suggestions/recommendations? Thanks in advance!

[chiplee]

Originally Posted by TcheloBR

Hi, I've been experiencing the same problem but my car (X5 3.5 2011) is in the store for almost 2 months. They tried to fix the first problem (bolts in the engine - replaced it) but when I got the car about 1 month ago, I had problems with the transmission (1st and 2nd gear). BMW told the dealership to change the transmission. I'm still waiting. My warranty just expired and I don't want to have a new extended one if BMW doesn't guarantee that my car is going to be fine. My wife had a bad experience as the car simply stopped in the middle of nowhere...very dangerous for her. Apparently, BMW took almost 2/3 months to send the letter after the press warned us about the recall. When I got the letter, I send the car to the dealership and they said everything was OK but 3 days later, my wife had the problem. I really want to know about my rights. It's seem that I bought an expensive car, based on its reliability and now I have a "lemon" as I don't know if they are going to fix. Any suggestions/recommendations? Thanks in advance!

If your warranty already expired you may be out of luck for a warranty extension or buy back. My claim is with a resolution specialist who recently stated they "pretty much" can't extend the warranty on cars with expired warranties, making it sound like an exception could be made under certain circumstances. I suppose it really depends on whether the vehicle was under warranty when the issue first presented itself.

Mine expires this Friday, and I'm waiting another day or so for BMW to decide what they're going to do for me because of this issue. There is no "parts and labor" warranty on warranty work anymore. There used to be a 2 year parts and labor guarantee when the BMW techs did any work, but now that is only the case if they do work on a car that is already out of warranty. Warranty work comes with no coverage, hence my request for an extension or buy back through BMWNA.

[chiplee]

Just to follow up, it appears BMW is going to repurchase our X5. I should have definitive word today.

[JupiterBMW]

Wow this thread makes me nervous as I shop for my first X5. I had a 2012 X3, two years and no talk of this... Is this only a MY2011 35i build issue?? Can someone provide a link to the original recall details?? Thanks in advance...

[barcelona]

Originally Posted by JupiterBMW

Wow this thread makes me nervous as I shop for my first X5. I had a 2012 X3, two years and no talk of this... Is this only a MY2011 35i build issue?? Can someone provide a link to the original recall details?? Thanks in advance...

See post 7, go to that link then see post 20. I assume that this is what you want to see.

[mitch808]

No letter for me yet, the website doesn't show my car having any recalls, yet my car fits in the range of affected make,model,year. I guess I just have to ask the dealer about it

[JupiterBMW]

Originally Posted by barcelona

See post 7, go to that link then see post 20. I assume that this is what you want to see.

Thanks... To be honest, when I initially read, I skipped right over that, and then I replied later without going through the whole thread again... I just missed it...

[barcelona]

Originally Posted by JupiterBMW

Thanks... To be honest, when I initially read, I skipped right over that, and then I replied later without going through the whole thread again... I just missed it...

I hear you,now that you mention it, this thread link doesn't work.
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/SearchResults

However, the full details are posted in post 20.
Best,

[chiplee]

Our repurchase is official now. I think the fact that we purchased the car in CA is what sealed the deal. Along with the multiple failed attempts to return the car to service. If I understand the depreciation formula correctly, we should be fairly compensated for our trouble. We'll see.

[chiplee]

Originally Posted by chiplee

Our repurchase is official now. I think the fact that we purchased the car in CA is what sealed the deal. Along with the multiple failed attempts to return the car to service. If I understand the depreciation formula correctly, we should be fairly compensated for our trouble. We'll see.

I understood the formula for calculating depreciation correctly. It is mileage at time of first related failure divided by 120,000 times purchase price. What I did not understand was what this value is deducted from. It is deducted from the total of all payments you've made so far to determine how much of that total you will receive back. I assumed it was deducted from the purchase price to determine the buy back value. That's incorrect. At least in my case, BMW NA is just paying off the car, and then refunding all of the payments I made less the depreciation deduction. This turns out to be much more favorable than I anticipated and I feel BMW has fully corrected the situation. It was a terrible ordeal so that's saying something. My M3 order can remain in place and my wife will be getting a new X5.